Proposal to license Ayurveda Practitioners in the US

[Guest guest]

Hi Noel

 

I agree that we are many, many years away from any kind of licensing

for Ayurvedic practitioners, in the US or Canada - and thank GOD for

that!

 

In her new book, the "Dark Ages Ahead", author Jane Jacobs describes

fiver pillars of society that are undergoing decline, and have been

undergoing decline in the West, for some time - these include:

 

1. family

2. community

3. higher education

4. science

5. self policing by the learned professions

 

while her thesis applies to the Western world, I think it is equally

applicable to countries that are hungrily adapting the Western model

to their own societies, such as India

 

while it is not my intent to debate her entire thesis, for i think

those of you that are perceptive enough will see demonstrable

examples of decline with the first four, the last is a little more

subtle

 

according Jacobs, the last pillar, that of self-regulating

professional associations, is under attack

rather than have a community of peers establish the criteria for

professional practice, ensuring the proper and up-to-date standards

that are there to protect the profession and their clients, licensing

can often achieve the opposite result - an external panel of non-

professionals that have no expertise (i.e. politicians and

bureaucrats) that establish laws for professional practice, but in

doing so, create an inherent inflexibility within the practice of

that profession (telling the professional what he/she can and cannot

do), and with the security of being "licensed", can create stagnation

within that profession as we see with other licensed professions such

as modern medicine

 

licensing is also a mechanism whereby a certain class of

professionals seek to restrict the practice of apparently competing

professionals, by saying they don't have the training or expertise to

practice

 

in reality, professionals that seek licensure, especially in the

field of medicine, are really pawns of a larger corporate agenda that

seeks to marginalize the field of complimentary and alternative

medicine by playing one group against another, thereby fragmenting

out the collective voice, which at its base, is supported by the

grass-roots

 

in ancient India, Ayurvedic physicians never needed to be licensed -

and there were always those who were considered good and wise

practitioners, and those that were not - back then, as now, the

axiom was "buyer beware"

 

of course, there is now a whole class of physicians that have gone

through the college system in India, and i have to say i am not

always impressed when compared to the gurukula-trained vaidyas i have

met and studied with

 

this list is a good representation of which i am talking about - when

folks write in for advice, many Ayurvedic "doctors" write terse

messages that consist of patented Ayurvedic "drugs" (often as a

solicitation of their professional services) instead of truly helpful

advice the seeks to address the root cause, something the person can

actually use and understand - of course Dr. Bhate is one notable

exception to this, a man who calls a herb a herb, and a food an food,

and i thank him for all his insights as a authentic Ayurvedic vaidya,

the term "vaidya" and "doctor" not being equal in my mind

 

herbalist Roger Wicke at the Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute has

written some very thoughtful essays on the subject of licensing, i

suggest everyone who cares about this issue read:

 

http://www.rmhiherbal.org/a/f.ahr3.rights.html

 

in my opinion, licensing is bargain with the devil

 

best... todd

 

 

On 4-Jun-06, at 7:09 AM, ayurveda wrote:

 

> Message: 1

> Sat Jun 3, 2006 6:49 pm (PDT)

> "Noel" sattva (AT) pacbell (DOT) net

> Proposal to license Ayurveda Practitioners in the US

>

>

> It took many, many years for the licensing of Chiropractics; and

> Ayurveda is

> considered less main stream in the USA. I know it will be a

> necessary step

> in the future, but I doubt if I will see it in my life it.

Caldecott

todd (AT) toddcaldecott (DOT) com

www.toddcaldecott.com

[Guest guest]

I think I have to agree with you. My doctor will not make a single move or

take a chance of being wrong whatsoever about treatment if the tests are in

conflict or goddess forbid, they do not show exactly what the patient's

experience is telling her. The ideas of a "standard of care" while great in

theory means that that is the lowest common denominator and if your ailment

doesn't exactly fit the template, you either get no care at all or you get

grafted on to whatever is close to your lab results or what the doc sees as

the most important symptom, not necessarily what is really bothering you. I

think ayurveda's great strength is its intelligent system of diagnosis that

is patient-based, not test based. I would like to see that continue. Also,

the licensing of such will allow and even encourage such obscene

relationships of self interest as exist with our docs and drug companies and

FDA. I prefer to take my chances with the system as it is. From what I have

read, licensing of medical doctors in America in the first place was just an

excuse to get rid of midwives.

Darla

 

On 6/4/06, Todd Caldecott <todd (AT) toddcaldecott (DOT) com> wrote:

> I agree that we are many, many years away from any kind of licensing

> for Ayurvedic practitioners, in the US or Canada - and thank GOD for

> that!

[Guest guest]

Very impressive article by Roger Wicke, Thanks for your input Todd.

 

 

Noel Gilbert

Counselor

Body, Mind & Soul

LifeStyle Counselor

Ayurveda - Herbalism

Nutrition - Medical Astrology